title: Multifactorial diversity sustains microbial community stability.
abstract: Maintenance of a high degree of biodiversity in homogeneous environments is poorly understood. A complex cheese starter culture with a long history of use was characterized as a model system to study simple microbial communities. Eight distinct genetic lineages were identified, encompassing two species: Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides. The genetic lineages were found to be collections of strains with variable plasmid content and phage sensitivities. Kill-the-winner hypothesis explaining the suppression of the fittest strains by density-dependent phage predation was operational at the strain level. This prevents the eradication of entire genetic lineages from the community during propagation regimes (back-slopping), stabilizing the genetic heterogeneity in the starter culture against environmental uncertainty.
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands [2] NIZO food research BV, Ede, The Netherlands [3] Top Institute Food and Nutrition (TIFN), Kluyver Centre for Genomics of Industrial Fermentation, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Oylum
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Erkus
authors.forename: Victor C L
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: de Jager
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spus
authors.forename: Ingrid J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: van Alen-Boerrigter
authors.forename: Irma M H
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: van Rijswijck
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hazelwood
authors.forename: Patrick W M
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Janssen
authors.forename: Sacha A F T
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: van Hijum
authors.forename: Michiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kleerebezem
authors.forename: Eddy J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Smid
mesh_terms: D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000502:physiology; D002611:Cheese / Q000382:microbiology*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D013294:Lactococcus lactis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology* / Q000821:virology; D007934:Leuconostoc / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology* / Q000821:virology; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S